E-Commerce Engine Shopify Is Launching A Brick-And-Mortar Store

Shopify, a Canadian e-commerce platform company that helps some 600,000 stores operate online, announced on Tuesday that it is taking a step into the brick and mortar world.

Shopify said it will open a physical store in an undisclosed location in the United States by the end of the summer. The goal is to establish a location for Shopify customers, most of whom are small businesses, to receive in-person advice and counseling to help expand their businesses.

“We think this is exactly the right time to help small businesses figure out what’s ahead in the turbulent retail environment today,” said Satish Kanwar, VP of product at Shopify in an interview with Forbes. The planned space will offer one-on-one workshops for customers and will feature a showroom with Shopify hardware products — from barcode scanners to cash drawers — designed for business owners who also want to launch a physical store.

Shopify was founded in 2004 by Tobi Lutke after he and a friend tried to launch an online snowboard shop but were unable to find decent software to power it. Lutke, a coder by training, wrote out the e-commerce program himself and realized it would be a good product to sell. He raised $200,000 from friends and family to launch Shopify, now a publicly traded company that has powered over $55 billion in transactions since its founding. Lutke, who owns just under 10% of the company, appeared on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List for the first time in March 2018 with a net worth of $1.2 billion.

E-commerce is blamed for what some in the industry refer to as "the retail apocalypse" — a wave of closures among major retailers that relied on brick-and-mortar stores. The most recent casualty was Toys “R” Us, which announced in March it would close or sell all 735 stores in the U.S.

While platforms like Shopify allow any company to sell products online, thus theoretically taking market share away from major retailers, one analyst believes e-commerce could actually help the physical retail industry.

“I wouldn't blame [e-commerce] for the retail apocalypse,” says Zoe Leavitt, retail analyst at CB Insights. “Companies like Shopify are helping new smaller brands get online quickly and get that retailer revenue, customer base, and proof of concept early on, which could eventually lead to a brick-and-mortar store.” Brands that have followed this path — online first, physical store later — include eyeglasses firm Warby Parker and men's clothing outfit Bonobos.

I'm a San Francisco-based staff reporter at Forbes. I write about wealth, the wealthy and how they control the world agenda. I earned an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University and a B.S. in cognitive neuroscience at UC San Diego. E-mail me at aau-yeung@forbes.com or fol...